Objective and Subjective Thinking

google “Letters to the Editor” 

  -You will find links to letters people have written in to various newspapers such as New York Times, Kansas City Star, or other local newspapers.1) Look for two letters that are emotional and not especially well-argued such as a complaint about buses based on the writer’s one bad experience. 2) Rewrite the letters turning them into arguments using the elements (position, support, conclusion). 3) Explain why the subjective letter is a poor argument because it narrowly reflects the writer’s own experience and may not speak to the reader.

Further examples of subjective thinking:

  –
 This is information that is unique to one person’s experience( e.g. I
find airplane seating annoying, the traffic in my street is noisy, people are
rude and mannerless in public). Rewrite the letter to make it more
objective (e.g. the seats on United Airlines’ 747s do not permit a person over
6 feet in height to stretch their legs out straight, I counted 400 cars passing
my house in a five minute period which is certain to create traffic noise, on 3
occasions I have had people crowd in front of me in a line where I had been
standing for several minutes which I believe is inconsiderate and
disrespectful). Find extreme or funny examples if you can.